journal page 1

march 24, 1999

there's this guy we've seen running around town for the past few years. we call him gas mask guy. he's big homeless guy who's invariably covered from head to toe in black leather, despite the santa barbara sun. no inch of skin is ever exposed: black gloves, black boots, black jacket, black scarf, and an enormous hooded black wraparound gasmask with opaque goggles, covering his entire head.

the first time i spotted him i was taking a break from animating 'lily' in 1997. i was exiting the bad taco bell near the sound studio and gas mask guy slowly staggers past me and waves a crumpled one dollar bill at the girl behind the counter and says, "gaaaaaaa." as i get back to my car a fat woman in a pantsuit hastily exits with her food, and, pretending to be completely oblivious to this, is closely followed by gas mask guy who is waving an empty pepsi cup at her. i am completely hooked at this point. mr gas mask had me at gaaaaaa.

a few months later i find him lurching around the grocery store carrying a basket that appeared to be carrying only peanut butter. he would stop motionless in an aisle to STARE at people and scared the bejesus of all the little kids. but the beauty of it was how everyone just pretended he didn't exist at all. they just went about their shopping as though they couldn't see him, yanking their saucer-eyed kids behind them.

he was most recently spotted staggering between cars that were stopped at a light. he'd walk right up to somebody's window and peeeeer inside. drivers stared ahead, suddenly transfixed by the trunk of the car in front of them. suddenly they felt the need to fiddle with their radio, bend down to tie their shoes, or try to make a lane change in stopped traffic. gas mask guy is an amazing sociology experiment.

what does he look like? does he have a body underneath or is he a ghostly gas mask guy in a gas mask suit? one of these days i will have to give him a ride somewhere and solve the mystery. i have also formulated the following questions for further discussion:
- who is he?
- where did he come from?
- how can we get him elected to public office?

don

march 21, 1999
really late/early
lucked out last week and ended up only having to do the LA commute just once for the latest round of studio meetings. the whole eventually-moving-down-there thing seems all the more inevitable. when i'm in town just poking around, it doesn't always seem that bad and there's definitely something to be said about a city where you can buy quality chicken blobs at a restaurant at 2 in the morning. aside from the traffic and the inhuman people who have LOST THEIR VERY SOULS, i think i've put my finger on what it is that weirds me out about LA. the central vibe that runs beneath everything in the city is pretty much, "i hate you, go away." particularly the "go away" part. it's largely a california thing that i never notice anywhere else. cities used to have downtown areas or city centers or sort of nucleus places where people traditionally could gather and hang out in a public atmosphere. like the happy town square with the big stone elf water fountain or something. most modern places have nothing like that anymore - everything is very isolated and constructed for cars instead of people. nobody wants anybody anywhere, there's lots of shooing you along from one place to another. no benches, no elf fountains, no loitering, no places to sit, no places to park, no places to just be. if you can find a bench you'll realize it's weirdly barrel-shaped so homeless people can't sleep on them. curbs and planter boxes are angled or have spikes on them so you can't sit down. everyone must keep moving, you can't stay here. if you want to park in this garage it's going to cost you a million dollars. there are gated communities surrounded by security surveillance and barbed wire. instead of finding a neighborhood, a nice-looking street will confront you with signs on every lawn and window: armed security response, guard dogs, 24 hour security, use of deadly force. miniature fortresses, closed off and contained. does anybody really like living like this?

another late night of drawing and ink fumes... then sleepy-time music and mildly retarded, babylike chirping noises

march 17, 1999

thanks to everyone for helping us put together this little website. i know nothing about computers. mine is a little glowing magic box. don use rock and stick. fire bad. there is not much to look at just yet but there will be soon. work is underway on animating the brand-new project, so there will be a great many late nights to share bleary eyed delusions with all of you

don